And another Atlas horizontal mill rebuild.

Yes, that is the one. It is no Kurt, but it works well enough for my purposes. I can take a photo of it on the mill if you would like to see how it fits.

By the way, I am retired from Lockheed Space Systems in Newtown.

Oh, and yes, it comes with the swivel.
 
JPMacG said:
Yes, that is the one. It is no Kurt, but it works well enough for my purposes. I can take a photo of it on the mill if you would like to see how it fits.

By the way, I am retired from Lockheed Space Systems in Newtown.

Oh, and yes, it comes with the swivel.
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Cool JP, I loved working there!!!

Yes, if you could take a picture of the vise on the mill that would be great!!! As you know with these mills we need something small enough that you can still use the Z axis.
 
I did not install them for the photo, but the vise is held with two Tee nuts, two short pieces of 5/16-18 threaded rod, and two collar nuts. I had to make the Tee nuts as I could not find any that would fit the slot. The vise also has two guides that fit in the slot and align the base. I had to modify them to fit the Atlas slot.

The Atlas owner's manual says to use square head bolts. I bought some to try but I did not like how they fit in the slot.
 
You can buy T slot stud kits that fit. Or just buy some T nuts and threaded rod that can be cut to size. The Atlas I am borrowing had some T slot studs that just needed a little of milling to fit properly. I also had some T nuts and studs from my rotary table that fit the Atlas.
 
Orangecrush said:
Also, the serial number on my mill is 003446 and it is an MF.
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Actually, it is an MFA (12-speed). But somewhat like Land Rover with their Series models and Simpson with the 260, Atlas didn't decide to call it an MFA until around the time that they were getting ready to bring out the MFB. And all of the 12-speed machines were renamed M1A, MFA or MHA. The nameplate part number was changed retroactively to M1-15A. The serial number range for the M*A is 001345 to 005465. It is not unusual to find a 12-speed machine with a lower serial number as Atlas must have rather quickly discontinued making something for the 16-speed machine, perhaps the 4-step spindle pulley.
 
Thank you for your reply wa5cab,

That makes sense to me with my mill being a MF and the lower serial number. And you are correct that my mill is a 12 speed with the 3 pulleys on the spindle and counter shaft assembly. I have seen some of these mills that have the MFA on them where mine just has the MF. So I'm guessing that it being a MF actually means it's a MFA?

When I bought the mill and lathe, the mill came with the original owners manual from back in 1943. It was rolled up in a cardboard tube that says"From: Atlas Press Company" and was shipped to Sears Roebuck store in Denton Texas. I don't know if any of this matters, but it also has what looks like some type of part number on the tube that says S: 69827 and a customer order date of 1/31/61. But what doesn't make sense is why Atlas would send a Instructions and parts list for Atlas Milling Machines dated Sept, 1943 with a customer order date of 1/31/61?

Maybe someone can help me with this discrepancy between the dates?
 
Steve,

My guess goes like this: In 1961, the company was still Atlas Press. The owner at that time didn't happen to have gotten a manual when he bought the mill from the PO. The MFB apparently came out in 1944, so the 1943 manual would have been the final one done on the MFA (and M1A and MHA). And Atlas still at that time had it in stock, so they shipped it to him. Or actually to the Sears store. Although come to think of it, Sears only ever sold the MFC model, under their part number 101.15500, So that part is still a mystery.

We don't have a 1943 MFA manual. I would somehow like to get a copy of it. Or better yet, borrow it for scanning.

I don't recognize the S: 69827.

Yes, ever though yours has an MF nameplate, it is actually an MFA.
 
Hey Robert,

The manual is not in that bad of condition, though a bit yellow from age. It's still good enough to make copies of and I have already made a few for reference use. I can scan it into the laptop and send it to you if you would like. Not sure how well it would do if I had to ship it to you because the pages are very fragile.

Plus I'm not really sure if the manual is complete, looks like it might be missing a few of the pages at the end. The reason I say that is I have downloaded a bunch of Atlas horizontal mill manuals from V.M. and some of them have exploded views of the machine. Which this one doesn't have or maybe they were taken out at some point.
 
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